Arts & Photography (50)

Perfect for beginning artists, The Art of Drawing Optical Illusions will help you create mind-bending optical illusions to fool your brain and tease your senses.Optical illusions are like magic tricks of the art world. They may look difficult to create, but with just a little bit of guidance, they can be easily achieved. Jonathan Stephen Harris guides you step-by-step in creating mind-blowing pencil drawings, starting with basic optical illusions and progressing to more challenging ones. From impossible shapes to three-dimensional sketches and trick art, you won’t believe your eyes as you learn to draw optical illusions in graphite and colored pencil.

In 1985, Nike released Michael Jordan’s first sneaker, the Air Jordan 1, and sneaker culture was born. Now thousands of people wait in line at Supreme, and companies throw millions of dollars at LeBron James to keep him in their marketing plans. The trend that saw steady growth for decades with the emergence of sports, hip-hop, and sportswear advertising has exploded into a phenomenon. And no one has watched that phenomenon more closely than Complex.Sneaker of the Year explores the past 35 years of sneaker culture with the expertise, authority, and passion that only Complex can offer. With vibrant photographs and illustrations throughout, as well as input from some of the sneaker world’s most important voices, this compilation is a must-have for hypebeasts and sneakerheads everywhere.

Discover how to create vibrant, colorful watercolor paintings of a range of animals. With Colorways: Watercolor Animals, learn to paint all your favorite animals, from an elephant and a whale to a dog, cat, fish, and more. Each step-by-step demonstration shows not only how to capture the animal’s likeness, but also how to use color to create magical, otherworldly, and whimsical paintings.In these tutorials, you will also learn how to use watercolor paint to suggest texture and fur on your animal subjects. Along the way, you will find technique instruction and tips for using different types of strokes, working with various brush shapes and sizes and using washes and underpaintings. Geared toward intermediate and advanced artists looking to play with color, this book offers fun subject matter and eye candy for all art lovers.

Start making beautiful crafts from polymer clay! Art Makers: Polymer Clay for Beginners is your step-by-step guide to making trinkets, animals, plants, and more using this fun, easy, and kiln-free craft.Polymer Clay for Beginners introduces artists, art hobbyists, and polymer clay enthusiasts to the versatile, accessible polymer clay medium. Because polymer clay does not require the use of a kiln and needs only baking in the oven, it is an easy, approachable art form for even the most inexperienced artist to learn, as well as kids, families, teachers, and anyone else looking for a fun, boredom-busting hobby or craft.Professional artist and owner of Cat Bear Express, author Emily Chen demonstrates how to make adorable animal figurines, flowers, cookies, cakes, beads, and more through easy step-by-step projects. Each project features colorful, styled photographs demonstrating how finished pieces can be used, displayed, and gifted. A comprehensive tools and materials section and detailed information on techniques, baking, and glazing guide artists in their quest to become polymer clay pros.

In Kawaii Kitties, popular Instagram artist Bichi Mao (@bichi.mao) perfectly captures cats' different attitudes through 75 step-by-step tutorials that show you how to draw all kinds of cute cats doing all sorts of silly things, including: Playing Sleeping Eating Stretching Exploring Being loving Wearing cute costumes and much more! Along with the tutorials, Bichi Mao shares tips and tricks for drawing and coloring your cats, a facial expression directory, and coloring pages swarming with kitties for you to decorate. So, get ready to purrfect your drawing skills, as well as be inspired to create your own kitty characters or illustrate the daily activities of your favorite pet.

The Artist's Toolbox series provides easy-to-use reference guides for beginning and aspiring artists. While many instructional art books gloss over important concepts, focusing instead on how to simply replicate a piece of art, the Artist's Toolbox series breaks down the whats, whens, whys, and hows of each relevant tool or technique, clearly demonstrating its purpose and how to employ it to achieve desired effects.In Painting Tools & Materials, artists will discover the important differences in brush styles, sizes, shapes, and types; how each brush is used to create different types of strokes; and how different types of brushes interact with various paints and supports. Artists will learn how to properly load brushes with paint, how to shape brushes to create specific strokes and effects, when to choose synthetic-hair over natural-hair, and much more. Experienced art instructors focus on the key concepts and practical aspects of working with specific tools, materials, and mediums to impart a complete understanding for those seeking to learn the fundamentals of painting.

Learn to create beautiful, realistic colored pencil drawings with Colored Pencil Basics. Award-winning artist Cynthia Knox first explores the fundamentals, starting with the necessary tools and materials colored pencil drawing techniques, color basics, and more. Then follow along as she demonstrates how to draw from everyday photographs, step by easy step. Whether you're a novice or an accomplished artist just getting started with colored pencil, Colored Pencil Basics provides the instruction and inspiration needed to master this versatile medium.

A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcastWe're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings?ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.

Learn to draw and paint your favorite everyday items! From plants, flowers, and animals to the contents of your kitchen cabinet, Draw Every Little Thing will show you just how easy it is to render the world around you using little more than a pencil, paper, and paint.Get to know a range of tools and materials, including graphite pencil, pen and ink, colored pencils, markers, and gouache, plus color theory and drawing and painting techniques. The drawing sections are devoted to specific themes, such as your home, the great outdoors, and your neighborhood. Crafty projects round out the book, allowing you to use your newfound drawing and painting skills to create bookmarks, cards, and more!Filled to the brim with whimsical artwork and loads of creative ideas, Draw Every Little Thing encourages artists of all skill levels to draw any time inspiration strikes!

In The Wood Burn Book, Rachel Strauss (@woodburncorner) teaches you everything you’ll need to know to master pyrography, whether you’re brand new to the hobby or you’ve been “writing with fire” for years.This essential guide opens with a brief background to the art of wood burning, a list of tools and how to use them, basic techniques that can be used over and over again, and even what to burn and how to be safe doing it. You will also find a detailed explanation of the process from start to finish, with patterns, techniques for lettering and adding color, as well as dozens of projects ready for gifting, including picture frames, cutting boards, coasters, cards, wooden spoons, and jewelry.Above all, Strauss has created the book she wished she had when she first discovered pyrography: a simple guide that quickly gets the reader successfully burning. With the right tools and a little time, you’ll be able to create meaningful handmade gifts without breaking the bank. Whether it’s to create a family name sign as a housewarming gift for newlyweds, or customize baby blocks for a new little one, wood burning is the versatile hobby that can be used time and time again to create memorable gifts for all of life’s occasions.In addition, wood burning is a practice in mindfulness, requiring patience and focus to awaken the senses and calm the mind.Mastering the art of writing with fire begins with the ability to follow a line. If you can trace, you can burn.

Draw the exciting elements of your world with confidence using the tips, techniques, and ideas in The Complete Urban Sketching Companion. Packed with information and visual inspiration on sketching architecture, cityscapes, people, and motion, plus lessons on perspective and adding color, this collection will have you filling sketchbook after sketchbook with compelling artwork.The popularity of the urban sketching movement has grown worldwide, and it’s easy to see why. Sketching on the go is exciting, rewarding, and creatively satisfying. With so many choices of what to sketch and how to sketch it, you need a companion to offer valuable insights, enlightening tips, and tons of ideas and inspiration. The Complete Urban Sketching Companion is that helpful guide to take along on your next overseas adventure, or to your favorite café around the corner.This book includes key drawing techniques and strategies from four books in the Urban Sketching Handbook series: Understanding Perspective, Working with Color, Architecture and Cityscapes, and People and Motion. Learn how to draw unique buildings, urban landscapes, and lively street scenes, incorporating interesting elements and striking color and lighting. Get tips on sketching with accurate perspective with easy methods and great examples to guide you along. Discover ways to capture motion, whether it’s a group of dancers or commuters on the move. Become confident in adding color to artwork by learning about different mediums and color mixing techniques.In The Complete Urban Sketching Companion you’ll also find: Simple tools and materials to get started Ways to build a well-composed scene Techniques for drawing urban environments to scale How to construct a sketch in layers Tips for rendering different types of perspective Strategies for creating dramatic shadows How to include a range of color values to create depth Ideas for interpreting movement and gesture Methods for drawing individuals and crowds Get started on your urban sketching adventures today, and start capturing life.

If you can make a dot, then you’re ready to be taken on a creative journey. Inspired by his internationally beloved picture book The Dot, Peter H. Reynolds begins this guided journal by giving you permission to draw just one dot and sign your name. Over the next several pages, you’re encouraged to take pleasure in making iterations of the dot: big dots, little dots, colorful dots, orderly dots, and scattered dots. Then you’ll move on to other mark-making activities, conquering perfectionism, loosening up, and letting your creativity flow. Throughout, Reynolds offers exercises that draw a connection between mindfulness and leaving your mark on the page. Whether you’re a timid beginner or a seasoned artist who needs a creative jolt to keep fresh and recharge, this journal is for you.

A practical and inspirational guide to help embroiderers and textile artists make the most of sketchbooks to inform their creative work.The artist’s sketchbook offers an exciting platform to explore a host of mixed media techniques. Using a combination of paper, textiles, found objects, pencil, ink and paint, Shelley Rhodes shows how a sketchbook can act as an illustrated diary, a visual catalogue of a journey or experience or as a starting point for more developed work.Whether out on location or in the studio, Rhodes explores every stage of the creative process, from initial inspiration to overcoming the fear of a blank page, manipulating paper and images and incorporating ‘found’ objects to build a sketchbook that is both beautiful and inspiring. Sketchbook Explorations is the ideal companion for everyone from the beginner to the more experienced artist looking for exciting techniques to expand their repertoire in mixed media.

Learn to create unique, contemporary works of art with traditional carving tools and printmaking techniques. Step-by-step projects and creative lino prints make it fun and easy.Aspiring artists, illustrators, art students, and art hobbyists will discover how to use basic carving tools and techniques to design and create custom lino prints for distinctive works of art. Practical instruction combined with approachable step-by-step projects and inspirational imagery guide readers on an engaging, easy-to-follow exploration of block printing.Following an introduction to essential materials, such as printmaking inks, linoleum blocks, carving tools, and papers, Block Print for Beginners demonstrates how to get from uncarved block to finished print, including transferring a drawing, carving the block, working with inks, and achieving the best print results. Once comfortable with the basics, aspiring printmakers can move on to explore a series of step-by-step tutorials for creating a variety of lino prints with blocks they can use over and over again.From basic block prints to more advanced techniques, such as printing in repeated patterns and creating stationery, wrapping paper, wallpaper, and more, Block Print for Beginners provides a fresh, contemporary, and enjoyable approach to learning this time-treasured art form.

The Japanese word kawaii translates to "cute," and this how-to book is chock-full of super-adorable images of tacos, sushi, smoothies, clouds, rainbows, cacti, doodle monsters, Christmas trees, lipsticks, teacups, and more for your adoration.Popular kawaii artist Zainab Khan shows you how to draw 75 super-cute characters with simple step-by-step illustrations and instructions. She has also included fun search-and-find images to play along with, and inspiration boards that show you how to give your characters different facial expressions and zany accessories.